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“New York Knicks fall to Atlanta Hawks amid top pick breakout”


“New York Knicks fall to Atlanta Hawks amid top pick breakout”

The New York Knicks witnessed early history, but it's safe to say they didn't enjoy it.

Zaccarie Risacher's infantile career night brought the Knicks' first major road trip of the season to a bitter end as New York fell to a 121-116 decision against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night at State Farm Arena.

Risacher, the debut pick in last year's draft, entered Wednesday's game averaging 9.4 points in his first eight professional appearances but was able to pull away with a team-high 31 points en route to the win.

With the majority of that tally coming from 6-of-10 shooting from three-point range, Risacher became the fifth rookie to sink at least six from distance against the Knicks. Lauri Markkanen holds the record with eight players, while Mike Miller, Landry Shamet and Coby White have also done so.

Despite trailing for most of Wednesday's game, the Knicks (3-4) appeared to be in good shape when Karl-Anthony Towns drained a three-pointer and scored the last of his game-high 34 points. With a five-point lead in hand, the Knicks had even more momentum when they successfully turned the ball over on a tackle when Towns was charged with a block that bounced off him out of bounds.

From there, however, Atlanta (4-5) went on a 16-6 run and ended the game: Clint Capela, who dominated the Knicks all night, played hero by shooting the free throws that completed Atlanta's mini-comeback at 1:09 before throwing down an emphatic dunk 23 seconds later that increased the lead to three.

With the loss, the Knicks not only missed the second half of a four-game road trip after wins in Miami and Detroit, but also lost consecutive games for the first time this season.

The Knicks will return home briefly on Friday night when they take on the reeling Milwaukee Bucks at Madison Square Garden (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG).

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